Time’s Jay Carney has a message for the blogs who’ve been covering the prosecutor purge scandal from the beginning: We were right, he was wrong. Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias went public, I said that if there turned out to be a broad conspiracy behind the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, “I will take […]
‘Burtonian strategies’
I suspect it must be difficult to be a Republican press flack right now, given the political environment and multiple political scandals in the air, but this spin was unintentionally hilarious. The situation is surprisingly straightforward. Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is likely to ask White House […]
The inane ‘Clinton did it too’ defense
As the prosecutor purge scandal continues to become more serious and more damaging for the Bush gang, the right has struggled to come up with a coherent defense. They seem to have embraced one, but it’s surprisingly weak. Karl Rove got the ball rolling last week. “Look, by law and by Constitution [sic], these attorneys […]
Dems smell blood in the water
The WaPo noted this morning that “administration officials say they are braced for a new round of criticism today from lawmakers who may feel misled by recent testimony” from Justice Department officials. Since those officials appear to have been lying blatantly, it appears that lawmakers have reason to “feel misled.” As it happens, this has […]
Tuesday’s political round-up
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * A huge new poll from the New York Times is chock full of interesting data, including widespread ennui among Republicans. 40% of GOP voters expect a Dem presidential candidate to win next […]
Popular pardon policy? Probably not
Last night, during a report on Scooter Libby’s predicament, Andrea Mitchell told MSNBC’s audience that White House officials are “going to try to really tamp this down and appeal to the polling which indicates that most people think, in fact, that he should be pardoned. Scooter Libby should be pardoned.” I’m not quite sure where […]
Oh Dick, what are we going to do with you?
After seeing a variety of media reports on Dick Cheney’s speech to AIPAC yesterday, I made the mistake of actually reading through the whole transcript. The Vice President was in rare form, even rolling out a new speech built around what Cheney described as four “myths.” 1. “Iraq has nothing to do with the global […]
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff calls homosexuality ‘immoral’
I continue to wait patiently for a rational explanation as to why the government denies gays the right to serve in the military. To his enormous credit, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put aside the nonsense and identified the actual reason for the unjustified discrimination. “I do not believe the […]
Prosecutor purge reaches crisis mode for White House
The prosecutor purge scandal is now cooking with gas. There’s no way around it: these guys are busted. Given what we’ve learned this morning, the house of cards White House and Justice Department officials built is crumbling. The White House was deeply involved in the decision late last year to dismiss federal prosecutors, including some […]
Monday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Last week, the White House agreed to support a Democratic bill that would require Senate confirmation for U.S. Attorney replacements. Apparently, Senate Republicans didn’t get the memo — Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) still “intends to object” to the bill. Whether that means he’ll filibuster the measure remains to be […]